The Ivel Ringing Group was formed in 1990 and currently consists of half a dozen ringers and as many trainees/helpers. We operate at sites across Bedfordshire, some associated with the river Great Ouse, but concentrating on the CES sites as well as catching Mute Swans.

For more photographs of this ringing session, see here. And no, it's not a typo, I did catch 43 Reed Buntings!

Last weekend, the Priory Country Park volunteers kindly agreed to help out with managing the vegetation within the CES site. They did a marvelous job. Thank you to Jane & the volunteers for all their effort.

Above: The net rides in the 'rough' have had their annual maintenance. It's looking good.

Looking back into January, the two main bits of news I have are that I ringed 13 Fieldfare (and retrapped one) outside my house. This was the first time I'd ringed them. I also caught a few Redwings and Blackbirds.

Above: A fieldfare.

Ringing did take place at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve but with low totals, there wasn't much worthy of news. At Priory Country Park however, a controlled Courn Bunting may well be the first ever movement of a Corn Bunting in/out/within Bedfordshire.

Above: A Corn Bunting

Now for December - there was a second foreign controlled bird a week after my last post in December (when I told you about a foreign ringed Blackcap). I also made 1000 handlings at Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. And then there's the 2012 highlights which were as follows:Priory Country Park:

Lesser Redpoll control (awaiting details)

Blackcap ringed in September 2011 controlled at Grafham Water Nature Reserve in May 2012

Blackcap ringed in September 2011 controlled at Portland Bill, Dorset in April 2012

2nd Kestrel for site ringed

2nd Jay for site ringed

All 12 CES visits were completed

2012 ringing totals and review for Priory Country Park can be found here.

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve:

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ringed (one of 11 new species ringed here)

1000 birds handled for the year

Chiffchaff ringed in July caught at Letchworth in August

Strasbourg ringed Blackcap caught in December (awaiting details)

Brussels ringed Siskin caught in December (awaiting details)

Chaffinch controled at SSNR in February originally ringed at South Lopham, near Thetford in May 2010

2012 ringing totals and review for Sandy Smith Nature Reserve can be found here.

British Trust for Ornithology

Bird ringing in Britain and Ireland is organised and co-ordinated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).A network of over 2,500 highly trained and licensed volunteers currently ring over 850,000 birds every year. On average only one in every one hundred birds ringed is subsequently recaught elsewhere or found by a member of the public and reported.

Every report of a ringed bird is therefore of extreme value. To report a dead or colour-ringed bird, go to http://www.ring.ac .For more information about ringing in the UK and Eire, please go to http://www.bto.org/. A ringing scheme operates in every European country and most countries of the world.